INDIANAPOLIS — With the Indiana Pacers unable to move up from the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference Authentic Saquon Barkley Jersey , the team will likely have a new look for the regular-season finale on Tuesday night against Charlotte. For the Pacers to have reached the No. 4 spot, the Cleveland Cavaliers had to lose back-to-back games to the New York Knicks. But after Cavs beat the Knicks on Monday night, Pacers coach Nate McMillan is expected to rest his starters and key reserves quite a bit against the Hornets. Rest might be welcome thing. “Yeah, I thought that they fought through some fatigue,” McMillan said of his players in Sunday’s 123-117 win at Charlotte. “Even though we won, I thought that we were flat for most of this game. We found a way to get some energy. I thought the bench came in and gave us a lot of energy and played well to help us get this win.” Pacers center/forward Domantas Sabonis scored a career-high 30 points. “My teammates were trusting me like always and I do my best to finish,” Sabonis told Fox Sports Indiana. “I love it here. It’s been a very fun year. I love my teammates, coaching staff and I’m just happy to represent Indiana.” Sabonis averages 11.7 points and 7.7 rebounds. “He’s always crashing the boards, plays well in the pick-and-roll, a very, very smart IQ guy,” Pacers point guard Cory Joseph said. After scoring below double figures for the first time all season Friday night with five points in a loss at Toronto, Pacers leading scorer Victor Oladipo bounced back with 27 points. The Hornets were plagued by 22 turnovers http://www.ravensauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kenny-young-jersey , and Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said in four of the last five games turnovers have been the difference. “I think we’re first or second in the NBA in taking care of the basketball, but four of the last five games we’ve had 17 or 18 turnovers, which is more product of playing more guys and something that you can live with,” he said. “So we did some good things. Those guys in the fourth quarter did a good job, so we’ll go there on Tuesday and see if we can put together longer periods of good play.” Clifford said he will start thinking about the offseason later. After the Hornets won four in a row, they have lost five of the last six games. “It’s been important to me that we play these games well so in nine of the last 10 we’ve been pretty good, competitive and organized,” he said. “So we’ve been putting just as much into these games as we have all year and frankly you worry about the next season in the next season. “I want to win Tuesday and I want (the players) to, too. So I haven’t even thought about stuff like that.” Hornets rookie guard Malik Monk, who averages 6.5 points, has scored 20 or more points in the last three games. Clifford said Monk has gotten better with his pick-and-roll game and has been more efficient offensively. “The thing he is doing better is he’s making plays for other people,” Clifford said. Clifford has noticed Monk’s assists-to-turnovers numbers have been solid recently as well. “That to me is as much of an indicator as anything of the growth that he’s made in terms of learning how to play in a manner that both he can score and the rest of the guys can play well when he’s on the floor,” he said. “In this league at his size (6 feet 3) Dante Pettis Color Rush Jersey , pick and roll is going to be a big part of it.”As postgame questions go, it was relatively innocuous, and maybe because of that, and because it came at a news conference after the Toronto Raptors moved into the second round of the playoffs by eliminating the Washington Wizards in Game 6, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry were in a playful mood. So as Toronto’s pair of All-Star guards sat there, waiting for the other to talk, DeRozan eventually spoke up, not to respond, but to kid to his running mate: ”You want me to answer everything.” To which Lowry retorted, referring to the reporter, ”He didn’t say `Kyle.'” DeRozan: ”He said both of us.” Lowry pointed a hand in his teammate’s direction, indicating DeRozan needed to reply, and instructed: ”That’s how this works.” And then Lowry teased: ”You don’t even remember the question.” DeRozan http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-malik-jefferson-jersey , with a grin, conceded: ”No, I don’t.” As long as the DeRozan-Lowry duo works in harmony on the court – and gets plenty of help from a terrific bench unit, just as it did while No. 1 seed Toronto finished off Washington with a 102-92 road victory Friday night – the Raptors have a formula for success this postseason. Because of those reserves, led by point guard Fred VanVleet, DeRozan and Lowry were able to spend plenty of time resting in the last game, neither playing more than 33 minutes. They won’t be spent by the time they get to the Eastern Conference’s next round, which will come against either the Cleveland Cavaliers or Indiana Pacers. ”It’s big, especially the dynamic of how we can do it,” DeRozan said. ”He can have a big night. I can have a big night. And the nights that we don’t, we have a bench that can go out there and can win the game for us, as well. Any given night, whether it’s a closeout game or a Game 1 Josh Jackson Color Rush Jersey , I think we’re just capable of showing so many different elements of how to win a game that we didn’t have last year.” Last season, the Raptors were swept in the second round by LeBron James and the Cavaliers. A season earlier, they also were knocked out by the Cavs, in six games in the East finals. Now Toronto has to wait a bit to find out if it’ll go up against LBJ and Co. for the third year in a row. Because Indiana won 121-87 on Friday, that series will head to a Game 7 at Cleveland on Sunday. Asked whether he preferred one possible opponent or the other, DeRozan gave a quick answer: ”No.” He averaged a series-leading 26.7 points against the Wizards, and Lowry was second among the Raptors at 17.2, along with 8.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds. But what has to make them rather happy moving forward is what happened when they were on the sideline in Game 6. VanVleet, the backup point guard, finally saw extended action for the first time against the Wizards, after being out for all but three minutes because of an injured right shoulder. Finally healthy enough to play, VanVleet led the second unit capably at both ends of the floor, contributing five points http://www.titansauthorizedshops.com/authentic-harold-landry-jersey , four assists and four rebounds, while playing pesky defense against All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal.

”He is kind of the engine, the toughness,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said about VanVleet. In all, the bench outscored Washington’s reserves 21-6 and outrebounded them 15-3 in the second half, allowing the Raptors to finally win a road playoff game in which they trailed at halftime. Their record before Friday in such situations was 0-23. Knowing they can win on the road at all should be a confidence-builder as the playoffs continue. The Raptors already knew they had an elite bunch of reserves. Looking at teams that reached the playoffs, they tied for first during the regular season in bench scoring, averaging 41.8 points. ”It’s been like that all year. It’s not going to be any different in the playoffs,” VanVleet said. ”I thought our bench team had been good this series at home, and we just needed to put together a performance on the road.” — ._________________dan yu